


As Easy As

by FadedSepia



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Gen, another fic involving Duo and apples
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 16:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14957912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FadedSepia/pseuds/FadedSepia
Summary: A simple afternoon for roommates in their kitchen.





	As Easy As

**Author's Note:**

> I seriously don't mean to keep writing fics involving Duo and the proper uses for apples. > _> Should I tag this fic 'apples' just to be safe?
> 
> This fic was drabbled and is un-beta'd. If you see major errors, shoot me a message, yeah?

Duo eyed the second shelf, weighing his options, carton heavy in his hand. He pressed the container forward, pushed aside a few jars, and nodded. He’d pestered Trowa for weeks that they needed a bigger fridge, promised that he could upgrade the wiring to handle it, but the taller man had shot him down every time. Heero had been no help, either; still fond of those awful ration bars, he barely even used the refrigerator.

Oh, well. He could balance the cheese atop the roasting chicken and call this a successful grocery day. Cheddar first, then the Wensleydale, and -

“Duo, these apples are a lie.”

\- and he’d dropped the Gouda… Great. Didn’t matter if he slammed the door now since he had already dented the cheese. Duo felt he’d been rather mature, and very restrained, when he only tossed the block back in and gently shut the door, arms crossed. “The apples are a lie? Like the cake?”

“Do we have cake?” Heero’s horribly deprived inner child awoke – suppressing any hint that he was a twenty-something trained soldier – at the mention of anything sweet. Seated at the breakfast bar, he flicked a hopeful gaze between Duo and the fridge, the barest smile pulling at his face.

It was such a shame to disappoint him.

“No, Heero, I didn’t buy a cake this week. I won’t be buying cake, again, until you can promise not to eat the whole thing in one sitting.” Duo wondered when the shorter man had gotten so good at impersonating a sad puppy. “You need to learn to share. And you need to eat fruit. Maybe a vegetable once in a while?”

“I like fruit. I just don’t like these lie-apples.” The wooden bowl was pushed further up the counter. The waxy red shine of the offending fruit therein was indifferent to the young man’s glare.

Duo picked up one of the, apparently horrible, apples, turning it over with a thoughtful frown. “You don’t like red delicious?”

“No. They are not delicious. They are disgusting.” He said it with the voice usually reserved for _‘Mission accepted,’_ as if it was some universal truth.

His roommate rolled his eyes, letting an exasperated huff out through his nose. Heero was such a _pain_ when he was being contrary. Especially when he didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. “I’ve never even bought these before, Heero. How do you _know_ you don’t like them?”

“I ate a few… during the war. They were terrible.” Having said his piece, he gave a lazy shrug.

“A few?” Duo flicked his braid over his shoulder, leveling a stare at his roommate. Heero had a somewhat… _skewed_ outlook on the world, especially when it came to judgements of what an adequate amount of anything was. It was, in Duo’s mind, the most annoying holdover from surviving a war where they needed fifth order contingencies for everything, leaving the man from L1 without any sense of acceptable moderation.

For Heero, ordering _some_ underwear had left them scrambling to fit a packing palette of boxer-briefs inside the apartment. Picking up _a couple_ of things to fix his bike had filled their living room for six days, leaving Trowa tripping into walls for lack of floor space.  Telling them he was bringing home paperwork, but that it was _not much_ , had left Duo lugging a full form-box onto the dining table. And, just last week, Heero had made himself sick eating _a little bit_ of a double decker coconut almond cake, leaving behind just enough that Duo and Trowa had gotten, at best, _a taste_. That knowledge left Duo staring at him across their island bar, arms crossed, lips pressed thin as he spoke. “So, how many was it, really, and how sick did you get?”

Heero found something unusually interesting on the kitchen counter, dropping his gaze to poke at it. Duo hefted the apple in his hand, lining up his aim. “C’mon, Heero. Don’t pull this crap; I know you know.”

Catching the apple on instinct, Heero dropped it onto the counter with a disgusted grimace, leaving it to roll to a stop just before it hit the floor. The look he directed at his flatmate was more betrayed than angry. He pulled his arms in close to his sides, once more focused on the counter. “I escaped that school on an apple truck with no rations. I hadn’t eaten a real meal that week. It was… unfortunate.”

A knowing noise wormed out of Duo’s throat. He’d seen Heero angry, and he’d seen Heero _hangry_ , and the latter was always worse, which was why he tried to keep munchies and snacks on hand. Maybe it was because of his training, or something the scientists did to him, but Heero was a feast or famine kind of eater. During the war, the shorter man would go two or three days on barely more than a ration bar, only to binge out on anything in sight when he finally _did_ eat. Trowa said he ate like a snake; stuffing himself and then working it off over the week. Given how quickly he could put away sweets, Duo would not be surprised if he really _could_ unhinge his jaw.

Which presented a problem. He had just about maxed out their food budget until payday, and this week’s ‘ _healthy snacks for Heero_ ’ were things the man wouldn’t eat. And Duo was not going to let Heero, my stomach is a gundanium black hole, Yuy eat any of his cheese for a snack, even if it _was_ dented. He was saving that for date night, and he wasn’t letting Heero near his medjool dates, either. Cheese and dates  _needed_ to be together, and he was  _not_ sharing either of them.

Duo reached forward for the abused red fruit, turning it over once in his hand. It was far from ideal, and it definitely wouldn’t be anything he could even pretend was healthy… Still, the idea of wasting money – or worse, _food_ – abhorred him, so this might be the only solution. They had the staples to make it work, and Trowa had never been a fan of gooey fillings, so Heero could eat as much as he wanted.

Mind set, Duo nodded. He reached upfor the apron they kept hanging by the refrigerator, then twisted his braid into a bun. No point in risking it with a temperamental gas stove. Pulling one of the smaller paring knives from block, he stepped around the island.

Heero blinked at him owlishly as Duo placed first the knife in his left hand, then the battered apple in his right.

“Go on, get to it.” Duo stepped back into the kitchen proper. He handed a bowl over the counter, setting it next to Heero’s elbow, nodding. Satisfied, he started pulling things out of their dry-good cupboard, setting them out one by one.

“Get to what?” Was he supposed to stab them? Or maybe Duo wanted him to sort the apples by size or, well, no, not colour, but… Heero was still frozen where he’d been placed, looking dumbly between the braided man behind the counter and the shiny red fruit in his hand.

Duo didn’t even bother turning around, only waving over his shoulder as he pulled a brick of butter from the freezer. “Get to peeling, Yuy. Apple pie isn’t as easy as people think.”

**Author's Note:**

> The apples are gross, and the cake is a lie, but Heero is happy 'cause Duo made pie.


End file.
